King Nothing (kinda build report) and Lows Switch Oopsie

[kweefthief]

Hey guys

I just finished the King Nothing build and it sounds great! I've also built the Particle accelerator and the old two knob version of it before. I think the KN has a more pleasing grit than the old PA and the new PA isnt really meant to have that much gain. The mode switch is real cool. The left side is a more aggressive gainy sound that has a little bite. The middle is the most neutral with less gain (my favorite). The right side has a smoother top end but same gain characteristic as the middle.

I expected a more transparent sound but it does seems to fill out the lower mids a bit, which isnt a bad thing. It doesn't do it in an artificial sounding way like a tube screamer though, more natural like turning ur amp up. I could definitely see this being an always on for some but I would miss the scoopy business from my princeton. More on this in the oopsie part.

I subbed out the 470k resistors for 510k's since thats all I had!

The Oopsie....
So I got a little too excited while tightening the Lows switch nut and snapped off the top part of it, popping out the lever. Unfortunately, that was my last on/off/on SDPT and I hate desoldering switches. I think it would be ever harder to do on this build due to the capacitors being very close to the switch. So, I opted to tape the hole up and use it as is.

I'm assuming the lever popping off essentially puts it in the off position, which would be no capacitor selected right? That would give me lower capacitance leading to more bass/lower mids going through?
Would there be an easy way to lower some bass? Could I solder a capacitor directly onto the lugs of the switch and make it work?

Lots of questions sorry!

 

[vigilante398]

With the lows switch broken/stuck in the "off" position you actually have the least amount of lows. You have to remember that the lows capacitors are in series with the coupling capacitor of the JFET stage. So what you're getting in the three positions is:

1. 2.2nF in series with 4.7nF = 1.5nF
2. (off) 1nF in series with 4.7nF = 825pF
3. nothing in series with 4.7nF = 4.7nF

So the middle position is the brightest of the three.

Maybe I play too much bass these days, but I've never felt like this thing needs less bass. If you want even less bass on tap you could swap the 4.7nF (C3) for a lower value like 2.2nF or 1nF, or even swap that 1nF (C4) for something smaller in the hundreds of pF range. You could also lower the bass response on the last stage but swapping the 22nF 630V cap (C6) with a lower value like 4.7nF or 2.2nF. Keep in mind these would still have to be high voltage (>250V) caps.

Hope this helps.

 

[kweefthief]

Have been trying to fiddle around with the sounds from it and decided I want to fix the switch! Luckily I did find the rest of the switches so I do have a replacement.

Turns out its not too much bass, just bass hump in the wrong freq. With the brightest setting (the one mine is stuck on) it feels like the bass hump is somewhere in the low mids but lacking the lower freqs making it sound boxy with a strat and my set up. This setting is best for lead or humbuckers I have found.

I'm scared to desolder the broken switch but I gotta try! I saw in another thread that you can take the switch apart and do each lug one by one. Not sure how to take it apart though!

 

[DailyDovetails]

Have been trying to fiddle around with the sounds from it and decided I want to fix the switch! Luckily I did find the rest of the switches so I do have a replacement.

Turns out its not too much bass, just bass hump in the wrong freq. With the brightest setting (the one mine is stuck on) it feels like the bass hump is somewhere in the low mids but lacking the lower freqs making it sound boxy with a strat and my set up. This setting is best for lead or humbuckers I have found.

I'm scared to desolder the broken switch but I gotta try! I saw in another thread that you can take the switch apart and do each lug one by one. Not sure how to take it apart though!

To disassemble the switch pry the metal sides open with a screwdriver or awl then the top part will pull right off. From there I would probably cut the case down some with my nippers to make the contacts easy to grab with needle nose pliers and heat them and pull them.

 

[Feral Feline]

...
Maybe I play too much bass these days, ...

You...

... bite your tongue, now...

... bite it VERY hard !

 

[joelorigo]

With the lows switch broken/stuck in the "off" position you actually have the least amount of lows. You have to remember that the lows capacitors are in series with the coupling capacitor of the JFET stage. So what you're getting in the three positions is:

1. 2.2nF in series with 4.7nF = 1.5nF
2. (off) 1nF in series with 4.7nF = 825pF
3. nothing in series with 4.7nF = 4.7nF

So the middle position is the brightest of the three.

Maybe I play too much bass these days, but I've never felt like this thing needs less bass. If you want even less bass on tap you could swap the 4.7nF (C3) for a lower value like 2.2nF or 1nF, or even swap that 1nF (C4) for something smaller in the hundreds of pF range. You could also lower the bass response on the last stage but swapping the 22nF 630V cap (C6) with a lower value like 4.7nF or 2.2nF. Keep in mind these would still have to be high voltage (>250V) caps.

Hope this helps.

I have tried my King Nothing with a couple different amps and guitars. I socketed C3 & C4 to experiment with less bass but I think I might like to hear it with more! At the highest Gain toggle setting and the center position on the Lows, it's pretty trebley/thin. Would raising the value of C3 from 4.7nF achieve an overall bass increase? The next higher value I have on hand is 10nF.